Concern expressed in the Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament about lack of detention space in St. Maarten is shared by many on the island. The D66 faction referred to a report in this newspaper of February 14 that according to the Prosecutor’s Office per last October at least 136 people were still waiting to serve their sentence.
“Wrong message” was the title of that day’s editorial, considering there is currently room for only 87 inmates at the Pointe Blanche penitentiary. Having many irrevocably convicted criminals walk around freely too long before paying their due to society erodes public trust in authorities and the rule of law.
A new prison to be built with help of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and funding from the Netherlands should alleviate the problem, along with better prevention policies. However, Justice Minister Anna Richardson did say a request has meanwhile been made to add capacity in a transitional facility that will house detainees during demolition and reconstruction.
But even if there were more cells, lack of personnel is a limiting factor. At the time, while 64 persons were employed as guards just 43 could be deployed due to sick leave and transfers, of whom only 24 worked at the prison, in three to four shifts per day.
Readers who do the math will understand that adding more inmates to watch would probably not be desirable anyway under these circumstances in terms of security for both them and personnel. Of the 30 million euros made available for this project by the Dutch government one-third will go to other parts of improving the entire detention system, including human resources.
As already stated in this column two months ago, it’s about ensuring a comprehensive approach.
